New legislation to limit full-contact football practices in California

The full-contact portions of high school football practice in the state will be limited to three hours per week as of Jan. 1, per a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday.

Measures against a disturbing number of head injuries also addressed by Assembly Bill 2127 include a new return-to-play protocol for athletes who have suffered concussions playing high school football and a mandate of no full-contact practices in the offseason.

CIF is adopting the NFL model that placed limits on full-contact practices in the league’s 2010 collective bargaining agreement, restrictions that reduced the number of concussions in NFL practice to three in 2012 and four last season.

Assemblyman Ken Cooley wrote the legislation he believes will have more impact calming concerns of parents than it will altering football practices.

“I anticipate other states will follow our lead as they consider the interests of kids and families,” Cooley said in a press release. “We have a multitude of evidence that this does not just affect professional athletes, but that younger kids who are still developing are just as susceptible and the effects of impacts. Research has shown hits don’t have to produce a concussion to have long-lasting effects.”

The bill allows for just two full-contact practices each week during the preseason and regular season with the full-contact portion lasting no longer than 90 minutes during each practice.

These are the latest in a string of restrictions on high school football practice imposed by CIF, which instituted a rule limiting the total number of practice hours per week to 18 beginning July 1.

California is one of 20 states to restrict full-contact practice in a movement that appears to quickly be gaining steam. Even a state as passionate about high school football as Texas has limited its full-contact practices to a total of 90 minutes per week.

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Former New Orleans Saints executive Terry O’Neil, who founded Practice Like Pros, an organization promoting limited full-contact practice techniques, estimated more than 100,000 concussions are inflicted on high school football fields every season. The Sports Legacy Institute, one of the leaders in advancing prevention of brain trauma in athletes, estimated 60-75 percent of those concussions occur during practice.

Drills that result in contact and are intended to teach proper tackling technique, but do not involve collisions or activity typical of an actual football game, are not considered full-contact, according to the AB 2127.

The NFL and a growing number of colleges are adopting the model of less full-contact practices, but any effect on the level of play is difficult to measure.